Bahrain GP. Qualifying Report. Toyota produced a dominant team performance to take their first ever 1-2 in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, with Jarno Trulli pipping his team mate Timo Glock to the coveted top spot in an action-packed session.The Toyota twins produced dominant final runs at the end of a hectic hour in the Bahrain heat to annex the front row of the grid. Though the level of their performance will be under scrutiny until the fuel loads of the cars are released later on, it was, on the face of it, a supreme performance from the red and white cars, giving the Japanese manufacturer it's best ever qualifying result.
Starting directly behind the Toyotas will be Sebastian Vettel, who had earlier set the fastest time of the qualifying session overall in the light-fuelled Q2 mini-session, and championship leader Jenson Button, who seemed rather mystified afterwards as to the Brawns rather lacklustre performance (by their own early season standards).
Lewis Hamilton had his best qualifying session of the year to date by snatching fifth on the grid, though he will likely be somewhat lighter than the cars around him. The McLaren man split the Brawn machines, with Rubens Barrichello behind him in 6th.
Fernando Alonso was seventh for Renault, seeming to opt for a slightly more reasonable fuel strategy in this one compared to his super-light front row accomplishment last week in China, with Felipe Massa finishing as the top Ferrari man in 8th place.
The final two members of the Q1 shootout were Nico Rosberg and Kimi Raikkonen, both failing to break the 1:35 barrier, and both likely to be heavier than the cars ahead of them. That or they were just rubbish.
Earlier on in the breathless three-part session, the big names went tumbling out as the chips were laid down. Q2 saw both BMWs rather limply remove themselves from the process, with Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld taking the team's 2008 approach to qualifying and waiting until late in the session to make their runs. Not as it helped, as the team mates will line up together on the seventh row of the grid.
Also out went Heikki Kovalainen, who gambled on making his final soft tyre run early. He will line up 11th, alongside the consistently anonymous Kazuki Nakajima in the second Williams.
Nelson Piquet Jr completed the fallers at the second hurdle, finishing 15th with a best time some way slower than some of those eliminated in Q1. The Brazilian driver sounded forlorn and lost on the pit radio after his final miserable attempt, and the amount of TV exposure given to the sight of Renault reserve driver Romain Grosjean on the pit wall adds credence to the belief that little Piquet is running out of time to justify his place in the sport.
The main incident of the session happened in the dying stages of Q1, with Mark Webber, parked in the bottom five but on a personal best lap, was unceremoniously blocked by the Force India of Adrian Sutil on the run down to the final corner. The German driver was contrite afterwards, and rushed to the Red Bull motorhome to apologise to the Aussie, having admitted that he got caught up watching the Renault of Alonso ahead of him rather than checking his mirrors, but it seems likely that he will face a penalty for his actions.
Webber, for his part, saw his blocked time elevate him to merely 16th, and eventually slid down to 19th as cars below him managed trouble-free laps. A sucker punch for a driver desperate to keep the good form of China going, but he was predictably phlegmatic about the incident afterwards, not getting involved in discussions about appeals from his team against Sutil, "Doesn't make any difference," he shrugged, "My race is screwed."
Both Sutil and Webber departed in Q1 then, along with the second Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella, and the Toro Rosso twins, with Sebastien Buemi still managing to beat his team mate Bourdais, the Frenchman set to line up last as things stand.
At the front though, the attention now turns to race fuel levels, and to which of the Toyotas, Brawns or Vettel is best place for what looks set to be a gripping race tomorrow.
| Qualifying Times | |||
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:33.431 |
| 2 | Timo Glock | Toyota | 1:33.712 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull - Renault | 1:34.015 |
| 4 | Jenson Button | Brawn - Mercedes | 1:34.044 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren - Mercedes | 1:34.196 |
| 6 | Rubens Barrichello | Brawn - Mercedes | 1:34.239 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Renault | 1:34.578 |
| 8 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:34.818 |
| 9 | Nico Rosberg | Williams - Toyota | 1:35.134 |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:35.380 |
| 11* | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren - Mercedes | 1:33.242 |
| 12* | Kazuki Nakajima | Williams - Toyota | 1:33.348 |
| 13* | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:33.487 |
| 14* | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:33.562 |
| 15* | Nelson Piquet Jr | Renault | 1:33.941 |
| 16** | Adrian Sutil | Force India - Mercedes | 1:33.722 |
| 17** | Sebastien Buemi | Toro Rosso -Ferrari | 1:33.753 |
| 18** | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India - Mercedes | 1:33.910 |
| 19** | Mark Webber | Red Bull - Renault | 1:34.038 |
| 20** | Sebastien Bourdias | Toro Rosso - Ferrari | 1:34.159 |
* - Out in second session
** - Out in first session
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